ASX ANNOUNCEMENT

9 December 2015

Australian Securities

Exchange Code: NST

Board of Directors

Mr Chris Rowe

Non-Executive Chairman

Mr Bill Beament

Managing Director

Mr Peter O'Connor

Non-Executive Director

Mr John Fitzgerald

Non-Executive Director

Ms Liza Carpene

Company Secretary

Issued Capital

Shares 600M Options 4.3M

Current Share Price A$2.54

Market Capitalisation A$1.5 billion

Cash and Cash Equivalents 30 Sep 2015 - A$196 million

Level 1, 388 Hay St

Subiaco WA 6008

T +6 8 6188 2100

F +6 8 6188 2111

E [email protected]

www.nsrltd.com ABN: 43 092 832 892

STUDY FINDS HERMES DEPOSIT WILL BE A SIGNIFICANT PRODUCER FOR PLUTONIC

Plutonic turnaround well underway as remnant mining draws to an end, paving way for the mine to play a key role in Northern Star's 700,000ozpa growth strategy

KEY POINTS

 Scoping study finds the recently acquired Hermes deposit at Plutonic will make a significant contribution to Northern Star's strategy of becoming a 700,000ozpa gold producer

 Stage one of mining at Hermes will produce 86,000oz over two-three years at an AISC of A$1,095/oz with an expected capital cost of A$10m

 The Hermes deposit remains open in several directions with the potential for pit extensions and underground mining

 Plutonic's production set to grow from 75,000oz-80,000ozpa in FY16 to 100,000ozpa in FY17

 Plutonic turnaround on track with mining moving from remnant areas to four new underground zones: Caribbean, Pacific East, Indian and Caspian

 Recent grade control drilling in these new zones has returned results of:

 Caribbean:

• 2.7m at 74.7gpt (est true width 1.9m)

• 3.2m at 54.4gpt (est true width 2.2m)

• 1.7m at 65.2gpt (est true width 1.2m)

   Pacific East:

• 12.1m at 13.9gpt (est true width 8.5m)

• 3.4m at 13.7gpt (est true width 2.3m)

• 3.0m at 11.9gpt (est true width 2.1m)

   Indian:

• 2.4m at 54gpt (est true width 1.7m)

• 1.8m at 40gpt (est true width 1.3m)

• 0.6m at 98.4gpt (est true width 0.4m)

   Caspian:

• 0.6m at 3,526gpt (est true width 0.4m)

• 1.0m at 107gpt (est true width 0.7m)

• 0.3m at 376gpt (est true width 0.2m)

   Exploration and studies will continue at the Baltic Extension zone following previous ore-grade intercepts in the area, including:

• 2.8m at 14gpt (est true width 2.0m)

• 1.6m at 18.5gpt (est true width 1.2m)

• 3.0m at 8.9gpt (est true width 1.9m)

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Northern Star Resources Limited (ASX: NST) is pleased to advise that it has made further strong progress in its strategy to become a 700,000 ounce-a-year gold producer, with a scoping study finding that its Hermes deposit will make a significant contribution to production and mine life at the Plutonic gold mine.

The study concluded that stage one mining at Hermes, which is located 60km south-west of Plutonic in WA, would produce a total of 86,000oz (1.1Mt at 2.6gpt) over a two to three-year life at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of A$1,095/oz (see Figure 1). The capital cost to bring Hermes into production is estimated to be A$10 million.

This is forecast to help increase Plutonic's annual production from 75,000oz-80,000oz per annum this financial year to 100,000oz per annum in FY17 and beyond.

Northern Star acquired Hermes from Alchemy Resources in March this year for A$1.5m and released a maiden Mineral Resource of 224,000oz at 2.7gpt in August (see ASX release dated 4 August 2015).

Mining is scheduled to start at three pits in the middle of next year, with the ore being trucked to Plutonic via a direct haulage route.

Figure 1: The Hermes deposit is located 60km south-west of the Plutonic mine. The above long section shows the illustrated stage one pit outline.

The deposit remains open in several directions with several ore grade intercepts highlighting the potential for underground mining.

The increased production at Plutonic is part of Northern Star's strategy to grow production to 700,000ozpa in FY18, up from this financial year's forecast production of 535,000 to 570,000oz at an AISC of A$1,050-A$1,100/oz.

This production growth will come entirely from organic sources, with increased output also forecast for the Company's Kalgoorlie operations and the start of mining at the Central Tanami Project in the Northern Territory.

Since taking ownership of the Plutonic Mine Northern Star has invested significantly in exploration and development at Plutonic as part of its strategy to move away from remnant mining and into new Resource areas.

This program has led to the development of four new areas - Caribbean, Pacific East, Indian and Caspian - now being well advanced.

Northern Star is also assessing the viability of extending mining to the high-grade Baltic Extended zone. The recent exploration success in this area followed on from historic drilling which encountered ore-grade intercepts (see Figure 2). This zone is a potential underground base-load feed source for the processing facility over a number of years.

Figure 2: Northern Star has intersected high grade mineralisation across four new mining fronts at Plutonic.

Further work will be conducted at the Baltic Extension Zone.

These five zones contributed a total of 664,000oz to Plutonic's revised Resource estimate of 1.7Moz, which was released in August this year (see ASX release dated 4 August 2015).

Since acquiring Plutonic last year, Northern Star has invested heavily in rebuilding the mine plan, with more than 120,000m of Diamond drilling completed in the past financial year. It has also completed a significant amount of underground capital development to access these new zones. In this financial year, Northern Star has budgeted to complete a further 90,000m of Diamond drilling.

With these new zones now moving from the development to the mining phase, total expenditure at Plutonic has fallen from ~A$11 million a month to A$9.2 million in October. Northern Star aims to further reduce this figure early in the new calendar year to A$8.8 million a month at a production rate of 6,500oz a month.

The exploration and development campaign led to Mineral Resources at Plutonic increasing by 17 per cent to 1.7Moz in FY15, including the four new areas now under development.

Northern Star Managing Director Bill Beament said it was now clear that the Company's strategy to rebuild Plutonic was paying dividends.

'We bought Plutonic because we were confident there was a lot more gold to be found,' Mr Beament said. 'The results of our exploration and development strategy show we were right.

'We have made the investment in identifying and developing these new areas, which will enable us to move away from remnant mining into genuinely new areas of mineralisation.

'Much of this upfront expenditure is now done and we are starting to see the benefits of the increased grades and lower costs which are at the heart of this strategy.'

Mr Beament said the results of this work also demonstrated that Northern Star's organic growth was on track and would deliver substantial benefits for Shareholders.

'The start of mining at Hermes and the shift away from remnant mining into these new areas will ensure Plutonic plays its role in our plan to be a 700,000ozpa producer,' he said.

Details of Hermes Scoping Study

The Hermes scoping study indicates that around 1.1Mt @ 2.6gpt can be mined and processed at a recovery rate of 95%, to produce 86,000oz at an AISC cost of A$1,095 per ounce from three initial pits, being Trapper, Trapper West and Hawkeye, with ore starting from 5m below surface.

The current Hermes scoping study results are based on preliminary mine designs and an allowance of 10% mining dilution and 95% mining recovery. Geotechnical assessment has been conducted by external consultants based on dedicated drill holes. Indicative mining and haulage costs have been sourced from open pit mining contractors and NST's internal database. Processing costs and recoveries are built up internally based on NST's operating experience at Plutonic and appropriate metallurgical test work for the Hermes deposit.

Capital expenditure is expected to be A$10m for the establishment of the new site and direct haulage route. This includes completion of required studies, infill and sterilisation drilling and dewatering bores. Work continues with site investigations and studies being progressed for permitting and approval purposes.

Exploration drilling is planned to resume early in the New Year to:

• convert inferred Resources to a higher category to allow mining plans and a Reserve to be finalised,

• laterally extend existing orebodies,

• test depth extensions,

• test potential additional mining areas, and

• sterilise potential waste dump areas.

Subject to approvals, Hermes is targeted to commence mining in mid-2016, and to be producing additional feed for the Plutonic mill in the second half of 2016.

Yours faithfully

BILL BEAMENT

Managing Director

Northern Star Resources Limited

Investor Enquiries:

Luke Gleeson, Investor Relations, Northern Star Resources Limited T: +61 8 6188 2103

E: [email protected]